I recently found the following infographic comparing the cost of manufacturing products in China to the cost of manufacturing in the United States. It turns out that the difference has been shrinking for the last few years because of a number of factors.

This is good news for manufacturers in the U.S. as well as many other countries, including Mexico, India, and Vietnam, which have lower average manufacturing costs than China.

I’ll let the infographic do most of the talking. It’s nice to hear good news like this:Continue reading →

Business leaders have a lot to worry about every day. It’s easy to let little things sidetrack you and take you away from the core areas of your business where you would do best to focus, such as selling your products, making them better, and improving customer service.

Inventory management is one area of business that can easily bog down even the best business leader if they’re not careful. You don’t want to let it take you away from your core competency, and you don’t have to as long as you have the right tools.

Advanced inventory management software will take a lot of the weight off your shoulders by:Continue reading →

Is your business struggling to grow right now, but you’re not sure why? You have popular products, you’ve hired talented employees to help you, and you’re getting the word out through marketing, but still you’re not seeing the results you’re hoping for.Continue reading →

Someone recently told me about a horrible experience they had with a supplier. They had ordered a large number of items to be put in a large container and shipped across the ocean from China.

However, the supplier discovered that all of the items wouldn’t fit in the container they had agreed upon. Instead of alerting their customer to this problem, they simply indiscriminately removed a large number of products and did not ship them at all without giving any warning of what they had done.

Fast forward a little while and when the container was finally delivered to the customer, they discovered that many badly needed supplies were missing. This meant that they had to disappoint their own customers who had been waiting for them.

This bad situation could have been resolved before it ballooned into a major problem if the supplier had just called, texted, or emailed their client. If there was no way to get another container, the customer could have at least worked with the supplier to prioritize the most important items they needed to get as soon as possible.Continue reading →

Companies don’t need to wait for a stimulus from the government to pull this country out of the economic doldrums. They have plenty of untapped power hidden within them that they could use to raise themselves up if they only knew how to unlock it.

What is this untapped power? Unengaged employees.

According to a 2013 Gallup poll, the U.S. economy could be generating $450 billion to $550 billion more every year if its workers were all engaged and fully committed to their jobs.

A business that makes the best use of its resources is saving a lot more than just money. There are only so many resources to go around, so it’s a good idea to have as much efficiency as possible to prevent waste. That’s what wise stewards do.

What can you do to achieve green inventory management? Here are a few ideas:Continue reading →